김태흡의 대중불교론과 그 전개

Abstract

This study examined Kim Tae‐heup’s theory of popular Buddhism and its development focused on people’s perception of Buddhism, the popularization of Buddhism, and the contents of Buddhist hymns and drama as one of earnest studies on modern popular Buddhism movements. Kim Tae‐heup’s theory of popular Buddhism is based on the idea of ‘Sangha’ that there is no distinction between priests and laymen in practicing the awakening of the self and others. Based on this idea, he suggested various specific ways for the transition from mountain Buddhism to popular Buddhism. In particular, paying attention to problems in preaching spaces, preaching methods, and involved institutions, he proposed the transformation of temple‐type halls to assembly halls, the introduction of modernized preaching means such as Buddhist hymns and sutras in Korean, and the installation of institutions such as kindergartens and night schools. With regard to preaching methods, furthermore, he suggested six items including lecture, literature, ceremony, special event, reformatory preaching, and the organization of Buddhist groups. These proposals by Kim Tae‐heup, which focused on the social roles and activities of Buddhism, are considered the most specific and systematic strategies for the popularization of Buddhism in the modern Buddhist circle. Buddhist hymns and dramas created by Kim Tae‐heup, though different in genre, have the common characteristics of ‘the configuration of Buddha as a personal saint and wise man’ and ‘emphasis on mind or awakening.’ Emphasis on Buddha and mind is the concretization of his Buddhist perception in the fields of popular Buddhism such as temples, assembly halls and schools, and can be considered the ideological direction of his popular Buddhism movement. His efforts to simplify ‘Buddhism’ into Buddha and mind and spread it actively among people through songs and dramas are meaningful in that they are distinguished from the premodern compromise that coped with the government’s policy of ‘supporting Confucianism and suppressing Buddhism’ through the theory ‘Confucianism and Buddhism are one.’